U.S. patent number 10,447,396 [Application Number 16/184,029] was granted by the patent office on 2019-10-15 for low-speed signal photoelectric conversion module of universal multimedia interface.
This patent grant is currently assigned to EverPro Technologies Company Ltd.. The grantee listed for this patent is EverPro Technologies Company Ltd.. Invention is credited to Yufeng Cheng, Hui Jiang, Yan Li, Rui Qin, Jinkuan Tang.
United States Patent |
10,447,396 |
Li , et al. |
October 15, 2019 |
Low-speed signal photoelectric conversion module of universal
multimedia interface
Abstract
A photo-electric conversion module for low-speed signals of
universal multimedia interface. A protocol analysis module
configured to analyze directions of half duplex signals and perform
conversion to full duplex signals; a packing and encoding module
configured to pack received full duplex signal in a frame format
and send the encapsulated signals to an electric-photo conversion
module; the electric-photo conversion module configured to convert
an electric signal to an optical signal and send the optical signal
via an optical fiber; an unpacking and decoding module configured
to perform frame unpacking and decoding on a received high-speed
electric signal and send a full duplex signal obtained through
protocol analysis to the protocol analysis module for protocol
analysis again; and a photo-electric conversion module.
Inventors: |
Li; Yan (Beijing,
CN), Qin; Rui (Beijing, CN), Cheng;
Yufeng (Beijing, CN), Jiang; Hui (Beijing,
CN), Tang; Jinkuan (Beijing, CN) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
EverPro Technologies Company Ltd. |
Wuhan |
N/A |
CN |
|
|
Assignee: |
EverPro Technologies Company
Ltd. (Wuhan, CN)
|
Family
ID: |
64550849 |
Appl.
No.: |
16/184,029 |
Filed: |
November 8, 2018 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 25, 2018 [CN] |
|
|
201810825687.0 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L
5/14 (20130101); H04B 10/40 (20130101); H04B
10/2589 (20200501); H04B 10/60 (20130101); H04B
10/50 (20130101); H04B 10/66 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04B
10/25 (20130101); H04B 10/66 (20130101); H04B
10/40 (20130101); H04L 5/14 (20060101); H04B
10/60 (20130101); H04B 10/50 (20130101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Wolf; Darren E
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Maier & Maier, PLLC
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A low-speed signal photo-electric conversion module of universal
multimedia interface, comprising: a protocol analysis module
configured to analyze half duplex signals in various multimedia
control protocols according to protocol specifications of
multimedia control signals, determine a signal direction related to
the protocol, convert a low-speed signal of a multimedia interface
to a full duplex signal, and send the full duplex signal to a
packing and encoding module, or perform protocol analysis again on
a full duplex signal outputted by an unpacking and decoding module
and obtained through protocol analysis to recover the half duplex
signal, and then send the half duplex signal to the multimedia
interface; the packing and encoding module configured to pack a
full duplex signal of the multimedia interface and a full duplex
signal converted from a half duplex signal through protocol
analysis, encapsulate all multimedia interface low-speed control
signals of the same moment in a frame format, and send the
encapsulated signals to an electric-photo conversion module; the
electric-photo conversion module configured to convert an electric
signal to an optical signal and send the optical signal via an
optical fiber; the unpacking and decoding module configured to
perform frame unpacking and decoding on a received high-speed
electric signal, convert the signal to a low-speed signal, directly
send a full duplex signal in the low-speed control signal to the
multimedia interface, send a full duplex signal obtained through
protocol analysis to the protocol analysis module for protocol
analysis again to recover the half duplex signal, and send the half
duplex signal to the multimedia interface after the signal
direction is determined; and a photo-electric conversion module
configured to receive an optical signal sent via an optical fiber,
convert the optical signal to an electric signal, and send the
electric signal to the unpacking and decoding module.
2. The photo-electric conversion module according to claim 1,
wherein the multimedia control signal comprises one or more of
HDMI, DP, and user-defined protocols.
3. The photo-electric conversion module according to claim 1,
wherein the protocol analysis module being configured to analyze
half duplex signals in various multimedia control protocols
according to protocol specifications of multimedia control signals,
and determine a signal direction related to the protocol comprises:
for an I.sup.2C signal in HDMI, performing, by the protocol
analysis module, analysis data by data and bit by bit according to
the historical state and current state of the I.sup.2C signal to
determine directions of the relevant half duplex signal SCL and SDA
in I.sup.2C; for a CEC signal in HDMI, performing, by the protocol
analysis module, analysis data by data and bit by bit according to
the historical state and current state of the CEC signal to
determine the direction of the CEC signal; and for an AUX signal in
DP, performing, by the protocol analysis module, analysis according
to the current state of the AUX signal to determine the direction
of the AUX signal.
4. The photo-electric conversion module according to claim 1,
wherein the frame comprises a frame identifier and frame content,
the frame content having different bits at different locations to
store control signals of a plurality of protocols.
5. The photo-electric conversion module according to claim 4,
wherein a null bit "0" can be inserted into the frame content to
maintain distinctiveness and uniqueness of the frame
identifier.
6. The photo-electric conversion module according to claim 4,
wherein the packing and encoding module performs line coding on the
packed data to convert the same to high-speed signals suitable for
optical signal transmission, and sends the high-speed signals to
the electric-photo conversion module.
7. The photo-electric conversion module according to claim 6,
wherein the packing and encoding module introduces 0/1 jump in
frame, such that "0" becomes "01" and "1" becomes "10," or "0"
becomes "10" and "1" becomes "01," or "0" and "1" become other more
complicated 0/1 jump codes.
8. The photo-electric conversion module according to claim 4,
wherein the packing and encoding module can transmit null signals.
Description
FIELD
The present invention relates to multimedia interfaces, and in
particular, to a low-speed signal photo-electric conversion module
of universal multimedia interface, which can convert low-speed
signals to be used by a plurality of multimedia transmission lines
to high-speed signals suitable for optical fiber transmission, and
can achieve sending and receiving of all multimedia interface
control signals with only two differential pairs, thereby lowering
the cost and reducing the power consumption.
BACKGROUND
With the increasingly high demand by people for better life,
digital HD technologies have been experiencing a rapid development,
and a variety of ultra HD audio/video devices have been
continuously developed. Meanwhile, a variety of multimedia
interfaces applicable for HD audio/video transmission, such as
HDMI, DP, and the like, have been developed accordingly. There is
an increasingly great information data amount for control signals
transmitted by various multimedia interfaces. On the other hand,
the conventional manner of copper wire transmission can achieve
only a short distance transmission due to relatively high losses.
At the same time, the manufacturing cost of high-grade cables
increases sharply along with the increase of the cable length.
Optical fiber transmission would be an excellent alternative.
A multimedia interface may simultaneously transmit a plurality of
control signals, or at the same moment, a plurality of multimedia
interfaces may simultaneously transmit their respective control
signals. In optical fiber transmission lines, each transmission
line requires its own laser driver and laser receiver. A lot of
transmission lines would require a lot of laser drivers and laser
receivers, as well as optical fibers. When the cost and the power
consumption are increased, the product yield is also impacted
significantly.
Optical signals can be used for an excellent transmission of
high-speed signals, but for transmission of low-speed signals or
when there is no signal input, the receiving end outputs noise, and
an amplifier of a photo-electric chip can readily amplify the noise
to an amplitude of a normal signal, which leads to errors.
Therefore, how to reduce transmission lines required by
transmitting control signals of a plurality of multimedia
interfaces, to transmit control signals in real time, and a
high-speed transmission applicable for optical signals is a
technical problem of the prior art in urgent need to be solved.
SUMMARY
The object of the present invention is to provide a low-speed
signal photo-electric conversion module of universal multimedia
interface, which can convert all transmitted low-speed signals to
high-speed signals suitable for optical fiber transmission through
analysis, packing and encoding, and can achieve sending and
receiving of all multimedia interface control signals with only two
differential pairs, thereby lowering the cost and reducing the
power consumption.
To achieve the object, the present invention employs the following
technical solution:
A low-speed signal photo-electric conversion module of universal
multimedia interface, comprising:
a protocol analysis module configured to analyze half duplex
signals in various multimedia control protocols according to
protocol specifications of multimedia control signals, determine a
signal direction related to the protocol, convert a low-speed
signal of a multimedia interface to a full duplex signal, and send
the full duplex signal to a packing and encoding module, or perform
protocol analysis again on a full duplex signal outputted by an
unpacking and decoding and obtained through protocol analysis to
recover the half duplex signal, and then send the half duplex
signal to the multimedia interface;
the packing and encoding module configured to pack a full duplex
signal of the multimedia interface and a full duplex signal
converted from a half duplex signal through protocol analysis,
encapsulate all multimedia interface low-speed control signals of
the same moment in a frame format, and send the encapsulated
signals to an electric-photo conversion module;
the electric-photo conversion module configured to convert an
electric signal to an optical signal and send the optical signal
via an optical fiber;
the unpacking and decoding module configured to perform frame
unpacking and decoding on a received high-speed electric signal,
convert the signal to a low-speed signal, directly send a full
duplex signal in the low-speed control signal to the multimedia
interface, send a full duplex signal obtained through protocol
analysis to the protocol analysis module for protocol analysis
again to recover the half duplex signal, and send the half duplex
signal to the multimedia interface after the signal direction is
determined; and
a photo-electric conversion module configured to receive an optical
signal sent via an optical fiber, convert the optical signal to an
electric signal, and send the electric signal to the unpacking and
decoding module.
Optionally, the multimedia control signal comprises one or more of
HDMI, DP, and user-defined protocols.
Optionally, the protocol analysis module being configured to
analyze half duplex signals in various multimedia control protocols
according to protocol specifications of multimedia control signals,
and determine a signal direction related to the protocol
comprises:
for an I.sup.2C signal in the HDMI protocol, performing, by the
protocol analysis module, analysis data by data and bit by bit
according to the historical state and current state of the I.sup.2C
signal to determine directions of SCL and SDA in the relevant half
duplex signal I.sup.2C;
for a CEC signal in the HDMI protocol, performing, by the protocol
analysis module, analysis data by data and bit by bit according to
the historical state and current state of the CEC signal to
determine the direction of the CEC signal, the processing manner
thereof being similar to that for I.sup.2C; and
for an AUX signal in the DP protocol, performing, by the protocol
analysis module, analysis according to the current state of the AUX
signal to determine the direction of the AUX signal.
Optionally, the frame comprises a frame identifier and frame
content, the frame content having different bits at different
locations to store control signals of a plurality of protocols.
Optionally, a null bit "0" can be inserted into the frame content
to maintain distinctiveness and uniqueness of the frame
identifier.
Optionally, the packing and encoding module performs line coding on
the packed data to convert the same to high-speed signals suitable
for optical signal transmission, and sends the high-speed signals
to the electric-photo conversion module.
Optionally, the packing and encoding module introduces 0/1 jump in
line coding, such that "0" becomes "01" and "1" becomes "10".
Optionally, the packing and encoding module can transmit null
signals.
Therefore, the present invention has the following advantages:
1. By simultaneously packing and encapsulating a protocol-related
full duplex signal and a full duplex signal converted from a half
duplex signal, control signals can be transmitted at any time, and
even null signals can be transmitted, which improves the real time
performance of control signal transmission;
2. Control signals are transmitted in a frame format, and
therefore, different locations of a frame have different bits to
store control signals of a plurality of protocols or a plurality of
interfaces, which can simultaneously transmit a plurality of
control signals in a plurality of multimedia interfaces received at
the same moment, thereby saving the cost, and the use of just two
pairs of differential signals, one for receiving and the other for
sending, can achieve bidirectional transmission of signals of HDMI,
DP, and user-defined protocols.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the low-speed signal photo-electric
conversion module of universal multimedia interface according to a
specific embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a particular protocol analysis to
determine a direction of an I.sup.2C signal according to a specific
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a particular protocol analysis to
determine a direction of an AUX signal according to a specific
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of signal transmission between an
exemplary of networking for interaction between the low-speed
signal photo-electric conversion modules of universal multimedia
interface according to a specific embodiment of the present
invention.
The legends in the figures respectively represent the following
technical features:
1. protocol analysis module; 2. packing and encoding module; 3.
electric-photo conversion module; 4. unpacking and decoding module;
5. photo-electric conversion module.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention will be further described in detail below
with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It
should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein
are only used to describe, rather than limit, the present
invention. Moreover, it should be further noted that, for easiness
of description, the accompanying drawings only illustrate a part of
the structure related to the present invention, instead of the
whole structure thereof.
According to the present invention, low-speed signals of a
plurality of multimedia interfaces are sent to the low-speed signal
photo-electric conversion module of universal multimedia interface,
full duplex signals in the low-speed signals are directly packed
and encoded, half duplex signals in the low-speed signals are
subject to protocol analysis and packed and encoded after signal
directions are determined, and all packed and encoded control
signals of the same moment are transmitted, for example, after
being encapsulated in a frame format, thereby achieving
simultaneous optical transmission of low-speed control signals of a
plurality of multimedia interface protocols. On the other hand, the
decoding mode of signals after the optical transmission is similar
to the encoding mode, i.e., full duplex signals are directly
analyzed, and half duplex signals are subjected to protocol
analysis and then transmitted after signal directions are
determined.
Specifically, referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram of the low-speed
signal photo-electric conversion module of universal multimedia
interface according to a specific embodiment of the present
invention is illustrated, comprising:
a protocol analysis module 1 configured to analyze half duplex
signals in various multimedia control protocols according to
protocol specifications of multimedia control signals, determine a
signal direction related to the protocol, convert a low-speed
signal of a multimedia interface to a full duplex signal, and send
the full duplex signal to a packing and encoding module, or perform
protocol analysis again on a full duplex signal outputted by an
unpacking and decoding module and obtained through protocol
analysis to recover the half duplex signal, and then send the half
duplex signal to the multimedia interface;
the packing and encoding module 2 configured to pack a full duplex
signal of the multimedia interface and a full duplex signal
converted from a half duplex signal through protocol analysis,
encapsulate all multimedia interface low-speed control signals of
the same moment in a frame format, and send the encapsulated
signals to an electric-photo conversion module;
the electric-photo conversion module 3 configured to convert an
electric signal to an optical signal and send the optical signal
via an optical fiber;
the unpacking and decoding module 4 configured to perform frame
unpacking and decoding on a received high-speed electric signal,
convert the signal to a low-speed signal, directly send a full
duplex signal in the low-speed control signal to the multimedia
interface, send a full duplex signal obtained through protocol
analysis to the protocol analysis module for protocol analysis
again to recover the half duplex signal, and send the half duplex
signal to the multimedia interface after the signal direction is
determined; and
a photo-electric conversion module 5 configured to receive an
optical signal sent via an optical fiber, convert the optical
signal to an electric signal, and send the electric signal to the
unpacking and decoding module.
By performing protocol analysis on a protocol-related half duplex
signal, determining the signal direction, and further converting
the signal to a full duplex signal, therefore, the present
invention facilitates the optical transmission of protocol signals
Meanwhile, by packing and encapsulating a protocol-related full
duplex signal and a full duplex signal converted from a half duplex
signal in a frame format, the present invention can simultaneously
transmit a plurality of control signals in a plurality of
multimedia interfaces received at the same moment. On one hand, the
real time transmission of control signals can be achieved, and on
the other hand, different locations of a frame have different bits
to store control signals of a plurality of protocols or a plurality
of interfaces thanks to the use of the frame format.
The present invention will be further described below with the
transmission of a plurality of control signals as an example:
A plurality of multimedia control signals comprises one or more
multimedia interface low-speed control signals in HDMI, DP (Display
Port) and user-defined protocols. The low-speed control signals
comprise full duplex signals and half duplex signals. For example,
in HDMI protocol, I.sup.2C and CEC signals are half duplex signals,
and HPD signals are full duplex signals; AUX signals in DP signals
are also half duplex signals Full duplex signals in the above
low-speed control signals are directly sent to the packing and
encoding module, and half duplex signals in the above low-speed
control signals are sent to the protocol analysis module.
The protocol analysis module determines the direction of the half
duplex signal at the current moment according to protocol
specifications of the above multimedia control signals. If the
direction is the input direction, the signal is converted to a full
duplex signal and sent to the packing and encoding module.
Specifically, the protocol analysis module has different processing
modes for determining signal direction with respect to different
protocols, such as HDMI, DP, and user-defined protocols.
For example, with regard to an I.sup.2C signal in HDMI protocol,
the input/output state of each data is related to previous data,
and each bit inside each data has a different input/output state.
Therefore, the protocol analysis module performs analysis data by
data and bit by bit according to the historical state and current
state of the I.sup.2C signal to determine the directions of the
half duplex signal SCL and SDA in I.sup.2C. See FIG. 2 for a
specific flow of protocol analysis.
For CEC in HDMI protocol, the protocol analysis module performs
analysis data by data and bit by bit according to the historical
state and current state of the CEC signal to determine the
direction of CEC, the processing manner thereof being similar to
that for I.sup.2C.
In another example, for AUX in DP protocol, source and sink on two
ends of a communication medium exchange information in a Q&A
format. Therefore, the input/output state of each data can be
analyzed just based on the current state, and the direction of the
AUX signal can then be determined. See FIG. 3 for a specific flow
of protocol analysis.
With reference to the above two manners, HDMI and DP can be
referred to for the analysis of a user-defined protocol. However,
the present invention is not limited thereby. The manner of
protocol analysis is not limited only to the above two manners, and
any manner is feasible as long as the direction of a half duplex
signal can be determined through analysis.
The packing and encoding module packs a full duplex signal that is
directly inputted and a full duplex signal converted from a half
duplex signal through protocol analysis, encapsulates all
multimedia interface low-speed control signals of the same moment
in a frame format, and achieves simultaneous transmission of
low-speed control signals of a plurality of multimedia interfaces.
As shown in Table 1, a potential packing and encoding format.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 HDMI DP User-defined protocol Frame
identifier SCL SDA CEC HPD AUX HPD dum UD1 UD2 . . . UDn 0 1 1 1 1
1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 . . . 0
Here, frame identifiers are used to differentiate different frames,
i.e., multimedia interface low-speed control signals at different
moments, and frame identifiers are typically of a special format
different from frame content, which is a special binary sequence of
01111110 in the present embodiment. A frame identifier is followed
by frame content, i.e., multimedia interface low-speed control
signals to be transmitted at the current moment, including SCL,
SDA, CEC, and HPD of HDMI, AUX and HPD of DP, and low-speed control
signals of a user-defined protocol.
Therefore, a plurality of control signals in a plurality of
multimedia interfaces received at the same moment can be
simultaneously transmitted in a frame format. On one hand, the real
time transmission of control signals can be achieved, and on the
other hand, different locations of a frame have different bits to
store control signals of a plurality of protocols or a plurality of
interfaces thanks to the use of the frame format.
For example, a plurality of control protocols are simultaneously
transmitted in the example, and it is prescribed in the protocols
that low-speed control signals of HDMI, DP, and a user-defined
protocol are transmitted, respectively, after the frame identifier.
Therefore, the above three types of low-speed control signals can
be directly acquired from the frame content and sent to
corresponding multimedia interfaces. Therefore, it can be seen from
above that the present invention can achieve simultaneous
transmission of a plurality of control protocols with a pair of
differential pairs, which not only lowers the cost and reduces the
power consumption, but also requires no wait. Compared with the use
of an agent module to collect control signals to a certain length
before transmission, the present invention further improves the
real time performance of control signal transmission.
Furthermore, to maintain the special sequence of the frame
identifier, the present invention can insert a null bit "0" into
the frame content. For example, in Table 1, the frame identifier is
01111110, SCL, SDA, CEC, and HPD of HDMI, AUX and HPD of DP, and
data UD1 and UD2 of a user-defined protocol form a special binary
sequence of 01111110 that is the same as the frame identifier,
which cannot be differentiated from the frame identifier. At this
moment, a null bit 0 with no meaning can be inserted in front of
UD1 in the user-defined protocol to change 01111110 in the frame
content to 011111010, thereby maintaining distinctiveness and
uniqueness of the frame identifier. The data stream packed and
encapsulated by the packing and encoding module is shown in Table
2.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Frame 1 Frame 2 . . . Frame n Frame- HDMI1
DP1 User- Frame- HDMI2 DP2 User- . . . Frame- HDMIn DPn User-
identi- defined identi- defined identi- defined fier proto- fier
proto- fier proto- 1 col 2 col n col 1 1 n
The packing and encoding module performs line coding on the packed
data to convert the same to high-speed signals suitable for optical
signal transmission, and sends the high-speed signals to the
electric-photo conversion module. Since serialization has been
performed on a plurality of multimedia interface low-speed control
signals of the same moment in the packing and encapsulating process
and a frame identifier has been added, the signal rate has already
been improved relative to the original low-speed signals. To
further improve the signal transmission rate, however, the present
invention can introduce 0/1 jump in frame, such that "0" becomes
"01" and "1" becomes "10". There is no continuous "1" or continuous
"0" in the packed and encapsulated data, which improves the signal
rate again, such that the encoded signal can be suitable for
optical transmission. If the signal rate after one 0/1 jump is
introduced in one symbol still cannot meet requirements by optical
communications, more jumps can be introduced to further improve the
signal rate.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 User-defined protocol HDMI DP . . . Frame
identifier SCL SDA CEC HPD AUX HPD dum UD1 UD2 . . . UDn 0 1 1 1 1
1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 . . . 0 . . . 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0
1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 . . . . . . 0 1
The present invention is not limited by the above manner to improve
the signal rate. Any manner is feasible as long as it can improve
the signal rate.
The electric-photo conversion module converts a high-speed electric
signal to an optical signal and sends the signal to the other end
of multimedia interface via an optical fiber;
the photo-electric conversion module converts the optical signal
received from the other end of multimedia interface via an optical
fiber to a high-speed electric signal.
the unpacking and decoding module performs line decoding on the
high-speed electric signal and converts the signal to a low-speed
signal; the unpacking and decoding module unpacks the low-speed
signal to obtain low-speed control signals of a plurality of
multimedia interface protocols.
For a plurality of multimedia interface low-speed control signals
of HDMI, DP, and user-defined protocols, the unpacking and decoding
module directly sends a full duplex signal to the multimedia
interface, and sends a full duplex signal obtained from a half
duplex signal through protocol analysis to the protocol analysis
module;
the protocol analysis module determines the direction of the signal
at the current moment according to protocol specifications of HDMI,
DP, and user-defined protocols, and converts the received full
duplex signal to a half duplex signal. If the direction is the
output direction, the output signal of the unpacking and decoding
module is sent to the multimedia interface.
Embodiment I
In the present embodiment, the use of the low-speed signal
photo-electric conversion module of universal multimedia interface
according to the present invention to simultaneously transmit a
plurality of multimedia interface signals via optical
communications is further described with reference to FIG. 4,
In the figure, there are two low-speed signal photo-electric
conversion modules A and B of universal multimedia interface, and
low-speed control signals of HDMI, DP, and user-defined protocols
are transmitted between source and sink.
Each multimedia interface low-speed signal photo-electric
conversion module comprises a protocol analysis module, a packing
and encoding module, an unpacking and decoding module, an
electric-photo conversion module, and a photo-electric conversion
module.
The source device sends the plurality of low-speed control signals
of multimedia interface HDMI, DP, and user-defined protocols to be
transmitted to the sink device to the multimedia interface
low-speed signal photo-electric conversion module A, wherein
I.sup.2C and CEC of HDMI and AUX of DP are half duplex signals and
are converted by the protocol analysis module to full duplex
signals and sent to the packing and encoding module; according to
specific applications, if a user-defined control signal is a half
duplex signal, it is sent to the protocol analysis module for
processing, or if the user-defined control signal is a full duplex
signal, it is directly sent to the packing and encoding module.
The packing and encoding module in the multimedia interface signal
photo-electric conversion module A packs and encodes all low-speed
control signals sent by the source device to the sink device, and
then sends them to the electric-photo conversion module.
The electric-photo conversion module in the multimedia interface
signal photo-electric conversion module A converts high-speed
electric signals suitable for optical communications to optical
signals and sends the optical signals to a photo-electric
conversion module in the multimedia interface signal photo-electric
conversion module B via an optical fiber.
The photo-electric conversion module in the multimedia interface
signal photo-electric conversion module B converts the received
optical signals to encoded high-speed electric signals and sends
the high-speed electric signals to the unpacking and decoding
module.
The unpacking and decoding module in the multimedia interface
signal photo-electric conversion module B decodes the high-speed
electric signals to low-speed signals, unpacks the low-speed
signals to corresponding I.sup.2C and CEC of HDMI, AUX of DP, and
user-defined control signals, sends full duplex signals from
conversion by the protocol analysis module of the multimedia
interface signal photo-electric conversion module A in the
I.sup.2C, CEC, AUX, and user-defined control signals to the
protocol analysis module of the multimedia interface signal
photo-electric conversion module B, and directly sends full duplex
signals in the user-defined control signals to the sink device via
the multimedia interface.
By analyzing the I.sup.2C, CEC, AUX, and user-defined control
signals, the protocol analysis module of the multimedia interface
signal photo-electric conversion module B determines signal
directions, converts them to half duplex signals, and sends the
half duplex signals to the sink device via the multimedia
interface.
After processing the information from the source device, the sink
device sends a plurality of low-speed control signals of multimedia
interfaces HDMI, DP, and user-defined protocols to be returned to
source device to the multimedia interface low-speed signal
photo-electric conversion module B, wherein I.sup.2C and CEC of
HDMI and AUX of DP are half duplex signals and are converted by the
protocol analysis module to full duplex signals and sent to the
packing and encoding module; HPD of HDMI and HPD of DP are full
duplex signals and directly sent to the packing and encoding
module. According to specific applications, if a user-defined
control signal is a half duplex signal, it is sent to the protocol
analysis module for processing, or if the user-defined control
signal is a full duplex signal, it is directly sent to the packing
and encoding module.
The packing and encoding module in the multimedia interface signal
photo-electric conversion module B packs and encodes all low-speed
control signals sent by the sink device to the source device, and
then sends the signals to the electric-photo conversion module.
The electric-photo conversion module in the multimedia interface
signal photo-electric conversion module B converts high-speed
electric signals suitable for optical communications to optical
signals and sends the optical signals to the photo-electric
conversion module in the multimedia interface signal photo-electric
conversion module A via an optical fiber.
The photo-electric conversion module in the multimedia interface
signal photo-electric conversion module A converts the received
optical signals to encoded high-speed electric signals and sends
the high-speed electric signals to the unpacking and decoding
module.
The unpacking and decoding module in the multimedia interface
signal photo-electric conversion module A decodes the high-speed
electric signals to low-speed signals, unpacks the low-speed
signals to corresponding I.sup.2C, CEC, and HPD of HDMI, AUX and
HPD of DP, and user-defined control signals, sends full duplex
signals from conversion by the protocol analysis module of the
multimedia interface signal photo-electric conversion module B in
the I.sup.2C, CEC, AUX, and user-defined control signals to the
protocol analysis module of the multimedia interface signal
photo-electric conversion module A, and directly sends full duplex
signals in the HPD of HDMI, HPD of DP, and user-defined control
signals to the source device via the multimedia interface.
By analyzing the I.sup.2C, CEC, AUX, and user-defined control
signals, the protocol analysis module of the multimedia interface
signal photo-electric conversion module A determines signal
directions, converts them to half duplex signals, and sends the
half duplex signals to the source device via the multimedia
interface.
Therefore, the present invention has the following advantages:
1. By simultaneously packing and encapsulating a protocol-related
full duplex signal and a full duplex signal converted from a half
duplex signal, control signals can be transmitted at any time, and
even null signals can be transmitted, which improves the real time
performance of control signal transmission;
2. Control signals are transmitted in a frame format, and
therefore, different locations of a frame have different bits to
store control signals of a plurality of protocols or a plurality of
interfaces, which can simultaneously transmit a plurality of
control signals in a plurality of multimedia interfaces received at
the same moment, thereby saving the cost, and the use of just two
pairs of differential signals, one for receiving and the other for
sending, can achieve bidirectional transmission of signals of HDMI,
DP, and user-defined protocols.
Obviously, a person skilled in the art should understand that all
the above units or steps of the present invention can be
implemented by a general computing device. The units or steps can
be concentrated on one single computing device. Alternatively, the
units or steps can be implemented by program codes executable by a
computer device. Therefore, the units or steps can be stored in a
storage device for execution by a computing device. Alternatively,
the units or steps can be made into respective integrated circuit
modules, or a plurality of modules or steps thereof can be made
into a single integrated circuit module for implementation. As
such, the present invention is not limited to any particular
combination of hardware and software.
The content above further describes the present invention in detail
with reference to specific preferred implementation manners, and
the specific implementation manners of the present invention are
not limited thereby. A number of simple deductions or substitutions
may be made by a person skilled in the art without departing from
the concept of the present invention, all of which shall fall
within the scope of the present invention defined by the claims
* * * * *